The most popular player in Montreal right now is not Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, or Juraj Slafkovsky.
His name is Ivan Demidov, and he has yet to play a game in front of his new supporters at the Bell Centre.
It’s insane, but all the same.
The Habs prospect has been the subject of much speculation in recent days, owing mostly to his predicament with SKA in St. Petersburg.
By the way, everyone knows the drill for that one.
However, it is intriguing to note that SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg held a lengthy conversation via Zoom with Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton (among others) concerning the player’s growth.
According to Rotenberg, the two parties did not even address the idea of him leaving Russia before the end of his contract, because SKA already has a plan in place for the teenager.
The truth is that the Habs and I already have a strategy for Demidov’s development. His ambition is to have his greatest season in the KHL. — Roman Rotenberg
Rotenberg goes on to claim that the club’s talented players will be able to assist Demidov on the ice, and that the player will have the opportunity to gain “invaluable” experience by rubbing shoulders with talented older players in Russia:
SKA coach Roman Rotenberg says that he just had a recent Zoom meeting with Hughes & Gorton & the Habs brass to discuss Ivan Demidov.
They had a “very positive conversation about how we would develop Ivan in SKA. There was no talk even about him leaving for Canada.”
👇👇👇 pic.twitter.com/fFBf2XVXYP
— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) July 24, 2024
We need to qualify here because they are simply formal words.
Roman Rotenberg was not out to spit on the youngster, nor was he out to publicly state that he is not interested in developing the player because he is departing at the end of the season.
Let’s wait and see how Demidov is employed before making a definitive decision…
However, things could change in the coming months. If SKA believes it would be better off without Demidov for reason X at the start of the next season, and he is not performing well enough for Kent Hughes, a decision may be taken in due order.
However, for the time being, the plan is obvious.
Demidov – barring a surprise – won’t be leaving Russia to join the Habs for next season.
At least, if the words of his SKA coach are anything to go by, that’s not likely to happen.
